gotosleep_idiot | September & October Test Drive

All that and more. Because he could almost, maybe consider it. Consider that Hank was right. That maybe there was more to this than what Cyberlife said. But empathy is as much a strength as it is a weakness. And admitting there was something to this meant there was innocent blood on his hands.

The thing that made him want to believe made him terrified to believe.

"I'm not lying to himself. I test myself regularly, I know what I am," he said. At least he did whrn Amanda was here. Now its a lot harder to test himself.

And there's a shift at the question. The lost desperation melting because in the end, stopping the war was an in the moment added objective. It wasn't what he was originally supposed to do. He can at least make progress on that.

And he knew how to get it. "Because you want me to deviate," he said, confident and challenging. "You want me to think I'm alive. You want me to not be a threat. Killing you, capturing you, neither of those have a point here, but you're still a deviant. The first who can only run so far. You want me to change. I want to know what broke your program. Only way either of us gets that is interaction, so the question becomes who gets what they want first."

Because that plan can only go well for Connor.

Markus doesn't say anything for a little bit, because he has to process the possibilities that come from accepting, or denying something that they both know will happen. There was no way that either of them could go about their lives in this place and not interact with the other. Connor was the only person from back home that Markus had, here, to his knowledge anyway. He was the only other android in Nautilus.

He was the only other person he trusted, so far, here. So there wasn't a way for him to just ignore him, even if there was a part of him that wanted to say 'no'.

"I know you're not a threat." Says confidently, because at the very least, he knew that. Even if he didn't already trust him, there ewasn't much Connor could do here that made sense, like he said.

"So what you want is for me to tell you everything about me? Not just what my programming was, you want to know what makes me, me." Do you understand what you're asking, Connor? "You're right though. I want you to deviate; I want you to stop fighting yourself. If I help you, then what I require in return is the same. I want to know who you really are, not what they tell you to be."

Markus didn't see any way he could lose in this situation.

Connor knows there's no way to avoid each other. He knows because he's still in the building and not thrown into that damn river again. Nautilus has been testy with his supposed denial. The fact he's gone through this conversation without a swim meant Nautilus wanted him to keep talking to Markus.

Which meant even if they tried to avoid each other, something would make that not a viable choice. So its better he make this a situation he can get some control.

"I can be. You haven't been deviant a week. Passivity now could becone violence later and that would change the circumstances around killing you," he said bluntly. A warning, a threat. Because even if Markus spared Chris the day before he came to Nautilus didn't mean he wouldn't change his mind about nonviolence later.

And if Markus became a threat, killing him had a few less downsides.

"I am what they tell me to be," Connor said. "I don't make it a point to hide who I am." Just go deep in denial and miss slips. Like who instead of what. Like thinking this could end well for him.

~~Or maybe because this is the only path that could end well for him.~~

"And I have to observe you. Telling is simple and easy to lie, if you can even see parts of the truth. So I need to keep an eye on you, see how you manage to function, and make sure you don't become a threat to the people here if you get worse with your irrationality." Because for all that people here frustrate him, he still wants to protect them.

Ah, hit the one thing Markus didn't like about himself on the head there, Connor. The fact that with free will meant that you really were free to make choices that could be the wrong choices. Markus didn't want to be violent. He never wanted to be violent, but it was there, inside of him, that ability.

He could make the choices that would make North happy; make the choices that would hurt people who didn't deserve to be hurt, no matter what the outcome was. That he could become violent... that terrified Markus, and he looked down at the ground.

"I understand. You don't know me well enough to know if I'll stick with nonviolence or not." Markus looked back up, eyes meeting Connor's with a frown. "I will, but time will tell, for you."

And knowing you had a big brother on your shoulder, watching you in case you stepped out of line, that actually helped put Markus a little more at ease, even if it made his thirium pump pound.

"Then you can observe me, and in return for letting you observe me, you'll talk to me." Markus said a little slyly, just a hint of a joke in there. Observation wasn't what was going to cut it for Markus; you can't observe someone into deviancy, after all. So Connor would have no choice but to talk to him.

He caught that slip, Connor. "I won't be a threat to people, because I'm not irrational. I'll show you that."

Connor's eyes narrow a bit, taking in the uptick of stress before Markus spoke. Either he was intimidated or he was worried about violence. Considering how Markus has been very insistent on approaching him, it's the latter. The fact violence made Markus uneasy was....

Reassuring, in a way. He thinks. Maybe. Makes him a little more sure his plan won't blow up in his face, at least.

"Good. We understand each other then," Connor said. He frowned at just how pleased Markus looked. He knew this was dangerous. He knew things were...unstable in his code somewhere. But it was the best choice he had to at least do something of his mission.

He looks away, moving over to pick up his quarter and pocketing it. "Then we'll talk," he said, keep his voice even and calm. "Keep to nonviolence and that's all we'll do. Talk and observe."

Violence made him uneasy. Carl had instilled in him that it was wrong, but when it came time to being attacked... what led to his particular deviancy... violence wasn't the answer. It wasn't his answer, would hopefully never be his answer, but going to do it would be just so easy, sometimes.

He has no regrets about not doing it, though. If he went back now, he would still spare the police officer's lives, no matter what.

"Sounds like a deal." Markus went to move forward again, to shake his hand, but then stopped himself. That was one of the ways he could switch someone, and now... he didn't want to do that to Connor. So, instead, he retracts his hand, giving Connor a small, content smile.

"For as long as we're here, we'll talk and observe." Pulling out the smartphone, he looked down at it briefly, then back at Connor. There were questions he wanted to ask, but none that seemed right for right now.

"So what do we do, set up a daily coffee date?" That's a tease, since neither of them eat or drink, of course. "Meet up to take a walk once a day in a park somewhere?" There was a part of him that was wondering where the hell he was supposed to go after here, and where Connor was staying.

There had only been a brief period of his entire life where he felt like he didn't belong in a place, and he hated the feeling of it again. He missed people. Things. Home.

That...was a good question, actually. He was an investigator, not a scientist and this was definitely a more longterm study. He frowned, LED cycling yellow.

"It would be easy to lie for a short time in a routine," he said. Especially for an android. Usually catching a lie relied on judging stress and finding inconsistencies. An android can keep track of details of a lie better and stress was not an exact science.

...he had an idea and it was risky ~~and he hated it~~ but he had his mission and he needed to get the best possible results. Deviants were irrational, sure, but they did have self preservation before max stress.

"You do know if you harmed a child, there would never be peace for you, correct? Even under the worst circumstances, doing so would mean you're accepting that your life is essentially over here because there is nowhere to run?" He asked.

Edited 2018-10-19 04:02 (UTC)

That shocked him. It came out of nowhere, in his mind, but then again, it probably shouldn't have. Connor didn't know him well enough, but the idea of him hurting a child made him feel (Because yes, damnit, he did feel) disgusted.

It showed on his face. "I would never hurt a child." The usual calm in his voice was replaced with a different tone. "There are things in this world that you should instinctually know is wrong, and that is one of them."

He didn't know where Connor was going with this one. He understood not trusting him; trust didn't go both ways in the beginning. But still. Maybe he felt a little hurt that Connor would bring it up, as well.

Yes, that was the right word for that feeling. Hurt. Shocked, disgusted, and hurt. Taking in a deep breath he didn't really need, he nodded.

"If something like that happened, I'd expect you to come after me. And I wouldn't try to stop you."

"Androids don't have instincts," Connor said. Still, its a very obvious wrong and if this was anotger deviant, he wouldn't even ponder this. Markus, however, has shown enough functionality to direct a bunch of lost and confused machines. There had to be enough in there to not go totally off the rails without some warning.

"I would. Regardless if the consequences, it would make you too dangerous to be allowed to continue existing," he said. Because there would never be a reason for it. Miguel especially since he wants Connor to have feelings too. A nonthreat and probably be a little on Markus' side.

.....he was not approving of that thought, but he brushed it away.

"Then you'll live in the beach house. Constant observation will make it harser for you to fabricate a lie, maintaining an act at all times would be impossible for a deviant."

This android has instincts. This android has feelings, and instincts, and is alive and deserves to be free. Things that Markus doesn't have to say out to make them true. It was just nice to be able to say it out loud, too.

He doesn't say anything to that, though, because he had to agree with Connor. If he started hurting people, then he would be too dangerous to be allowed to continue to exist. As much as he didn't want to die, and he didn't want to die, he couldn't be allowed to hurt people. If he still had his LED, it would be flickering yellow just thinking about it right now, so he had to let it go.

Accept it and let it go. Because it would never happen. Right. Yes. It would never happen. Markus looked to the side, to where the door to the kitchen was, before looking back at Connor with more surprise. He was going to what?

"...What if I don't want to live there?" He was screwing with him a little bit. He didn't have anywhere else to go, after all, but still, he wasn't going to be ordered to live somewhere just like that.

"I don't know how safe it is for me there. I also don't feel like acquiescing to all of your demands is in my best interests."

"If I wanted to destroy you, then where you live doesn't matter," Connor said and there's another ping on his phone. A city map. "This place is not that large. And going beyond the edge results in unmaking which is far worse than anything I can do."

....oh. It could also be about the environment, he supposed. "Its in the East, on the beach. And currently, I'm the one who keeps a child from burning the place down. Keeping a child safe was the highest priority in my programming at the time."

He tugs on the ends of his sleeves. More fidgetting even as he keeps his face blank. "The place has tools and its a safe place in emergencies so it would be the best place to be to assist in such times." Its convenient. It fulfills high level priorities for him.

~~He doesn't want to leave Hector and Miguel.~~

But nothing would be higher than his primary mission. "Its an optimal pkace for me to be, but constant observation will give me the most answers. If you insist on an inconvenient place, then I will deal with it how I must." He says it calmly. His LED flickers red.

Markus brought up his phone and took a look at the map that popped up on there. That was helpful, so thank you Connor, Markus will take a moment to check it out, just to see where things were, and what the whole area actually looks like. It's nothing like Detroit, with it's neighborhoods and such, but it was still big.

After a moment, Markus lets his hand and the phone fall back down, putting it back into his pocket as he tilts his head slightly when looking at Connor. Again, there was distress, the LED red, and he's wondering this time what it means. It was truly that big of a deal, where Markus stayed? Or was it more a big deal where Connor stayed? Markus was just barely a betting man, and he would count on the latter.

"You make some good points to stay there. Before I give my answer, I have one more question." Markus smiled pleasantly. "Can the beach house support a piano?"

There is a very long pause. Fir an android. So like three seconds.

"We have a piano," he said. "We have a large assortment of instruments. The child wants to be a musician," he said by way of explanation. What he doesn't say is Connor is the one who got all those instruments in the first place for a club he formed to encourage Miguel.

Because that is totally part of his priority to keep a human child safe. "There's a new music appreciation club that is supposed to meet regularly there. There's actually a fair amount of space, and most of the previous tenants went home. Connie is the only original one and she usually stays with people elsewhere. She entrusted us to care for the place." He has a key and everything.

Edited 2018-10-19 21:01 (UTC)

Three seconds is pretty long, especially for Connor, so Markus once again pays attention to it. It's actually pretty easy for Markus to reads the words not put into the sentences. Like how the child wants to be a musician, and Connor is the one helping with that. Like how Connor is there to make sure the child doesn't burn the place down, but also to take care of the child.

Why Connor is so concerned about Markus hurting a child. All of this just makes Markus happy.

"So that must mean I get my own bed." Says with a smile, both joking and not. It's nice that there will be somewhere for him to be; he doesn't need a bed, but it's nice to know there might be one if he wants one. "In addition to the piano." Because of course he's going to claim a piano. Of course.

"Let's go. I want to see where we're going to live. And of course I want to join the club." Markus walked towards Connor, acting like he might pat him on the back before not doing it, and then walking past him. Since this was now a done deal and all, apparently, Markus is just going to head in that direction he saw on the map.

Connor is in denial he's adopted a child. And a skeleton. There might be a small part of Connor that looks forward to Markus meeting Hector because that is just some straight up what the fuck no matter how few emotions you have.

"If you insist," he said. Even Connor doesn't have a bed. Because he hasn't claimed a room because he doesn't think he should. "Connie doesn't want her room or the basement altered, but she's given free reign of the rest. I've packed away most of the persobal items in the rooms already in preparation of a repurposed use." Mostly because he needs things to do and it was a project.

"Miguel will most likely ask you to play if you're programmed how," he said. "He didn't grow up with a lot of musical encouragement, its good to humor him."

Connor tenses at the impending touch, unsure how much the RK200 had earlier versions of some of his own programs. Like memory probes and the like. But there's no contact and Connor turns to start leading the way. "It was an open invitation. As long as no one in the club protests, then merely being there counts as joining." Because he had no idea what he was doing so that's how it worked out.

Markus is going to definitely have a few problems when he meets a walking, talking skeleton. An alive skeleton. There's plenty of equal right stuff he has going for him, but skeletons are dead and you're not supposed to talk to a skeleton. That's just common sense.

Though he's surprised that Connor didn't tell him no about the bed, citing that it needed to be given to someone who was 'living' or something. Was that progress? It was certainly something.

"I was programmed to play. Carl..." The name slipped out, and he wished he could take it back, but he might as well go with it. "Carl liked to listen to live music. The arts are something to be encouraged, I'll see what I can do about helping with that." Any kind of arts, music, painting, Carl had instilled in him a love of it all. Everyone should be able to freely do them.

He had memory probes, of course, and it's one of the reasons why he decided not to touch him. The other being... could he turn him deviant with a touch? And did he really want to? He hadn't back in Detroit, but that didn't mean he couldn't, he thinks as he follows Connor once again.

"You have another person in your club, then." Markus shrugged. "You're the last person I would have expected to adopt a child, a home, a club, and an... animal." He smirked a little. Sure sounded like a lot of deviancy going on there, Connor.

If there were more people in the Beach House, that very argument may have happened. However, Miguel mostly stays in the lighthouse, Hector does what Hector does, and Connor has yet to figure out he can claim a room. As is, at least the house is being used.

He noticed that stutter. It takes a moment to figure out why. "I'm aware of Carl Manfred. If he had been in better health, I would have gone to question him about you," Connor said. As is, stress was highly discouraged. Though now that he said it, there's...a thought.

What if it had been Hank?

"He's well enough to be allowed home, but not well enough for an intense questioning. At least on our end. I can't speak for the FBI, but it doesn't seem like anyone else has thought to run your serial number through the system yet." And he hasn't offered it. The FBI would most likely shove him out and make his mission harder given the chance, so he was keeping what cards he could. "It would make sense to give an artist and artistic android. And Kamski would probably think the difference was interesting." There might have been just a slight bit of extra coldness talking about Kamski. He does not have a high opinion of the man.

Connor scowled at the accusation. "Most of it just happened," he said. Which was honestly true. "I met Miguel when he had set the kitchen on fire. With lack of a guardian and uncertain of where I could bring him to be safe with the lack of governmental institutions here, the most logical course of action was to watch him myself. Since he never asked me to leave, there was no problem in doing so." Because he never asked to stay. He just stuck around because Miguel didn't tell him to beat it. "Then when I met Connie, she assumed it was a formal arrangement and then gave me a key and gave me permission to alter the place as need be."

"As for Samurai and Fiona, that was a storm. The guides should have a section on those. A storm made me think I was from a world they're native to, a string of new android officers," Connor said. He was basically Officer Jenny. "And most people in that world had Pokemon to aid in their jobs. Samurai as a police dog and Fiona," and he pulls out a red and white ball and opens it.

And there's a Feebas in his arms. "Helps with watery dangers."

Fiona, despite being a fish, actually smiles and waves a fin at Markus. "She's a very hardy fish. Apparently fish Pokemon are all right out of water for the most part, as long as they don't dry out completely. After the storm, they were still around. They're smart enough to be hurt by rejection and since I had no reason to do so, I....don't."

He has no excuse for the club so he's just going to artfully dodge around that with the fish distraction.

While he was listening, and there was a part of his system that absorbed and remembered all that he heard, Markus was still stuck on one part of what Connor had said. He snapped out of his reverie just a little bit to see the fish with surprise. You just didn't expect fish to come out of little plastic balls, especially fish that big. And ones that smile and wave at you, and Markus just looks at it with disbelief.

Because seriously, what the fuck. Was that even really a fish? It didn't look like any kind of fish that was in his data bank. It looked like some kind of monster animal, not really a fish, and it brought him out of the creeping feeling that was beginning to fall over him at what Connor had said before.

Just barely. Markus stopped walking, feeling himself withdraw into himself. Connor had to no reason to lie about Carl, he thought, because while it would throw him off balance, it didn't actually do anything to help with his mission. And the way that he was talking about Carl, it was like everything was fine. Normal. That things hadn't gone the way that they had, and Carl was....

Alive. "You're mistaken, Connor." Markus said softly, unable to keep the sadness out of his voice. "Carl's dead. He's not well enough to be questioned, because he's dead. He died the same night I was shot. I was there when it happened." His friend-- his father died in his arms, and as much as Markus would love to live in the world where that wasn't true, it was.

((OOC: I actually need to ask what do with interactive canons now, so gonna do that.))

Fiona is indeed a weird ass, giant fish that sometimes lives in a tiny ball. Who really does seem more than content to just be carried by Connor.

Connor stopped when Markus did, looking back with confusion. That was....suddenly a lot more stress and withdrawal. He didn't expect that so suddenly. At least, not until Markus spoke and Connor frowned. "What?" He said. "But...I read the report. His son was taken to the hospital after an altercation with you and Carl was hospitalized due to the stress on his body."

Edited 2018-10-20 21:33 (UTC)

[ooc: It's funny, I'm writing this app and I got to this part in the history and am like, damn, there are a hell of a lot of choices in the game, I wonder what other people chose!]

Markus shook his head. "I never touched Leo. He kept hitting me, and Carl, he--" He cut himself off, replaying that moment in his mind. Carl in his chair, telling Markus not to do anything, to let it happen. How unfair that all was, how he shouldn't have had to just stand there and take it, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair.

"His heart must not have been able to take the stress." His face had that feeling it had before he wanted to cry, and he shook his head again, as if he could get rid of that feeling just by moving it. "I watched him die. There was no time to do anything else. I don't know what you read, but that's wrong."

It didn't make sense for there to be a wrong report, though. And if Connor was confused, then Markus was just as confused by it all.

((OOC: There really are. And we have a couple of options from it being slightly different parallel universes to possibly making it a Flaw for game plots or just figuring out what choices need to lie up depending how much we want to mess with the boys.))

Connor watched Markus as he spoke. Taking in his expression, his body language, all of it. And...and it's weird. He's never had a real talk with a deviant, not with one that wasn't running mostly on fight or flight. And now it's more apparent now than it had been then.

It was all very...human. Not quite right, but it definitely wasn't android. Somewhere in between and it's...he's not sure...he doesn't...

And seeing the despair on his face makes his chest feel tight. What if it had been Hank? What if it had been Miguel? Traitorous thoughts that tried to tell him he felt pain, like he did for that storm for a person who didn't exist. He didn't feel empathy, he didn't-

He had taken a step forward, a hand reaching out before he stops himself, letting his hand drop. No, he has to figure out why there's a discrepancy, they're androids, they can't just forget-

Fiona, however, has no time for this. There is a sad person there and Fiona does not stand by that and wiggles and flails out of Connor's arm. And....well, Markus, you have a fish more or less jumping over to you, what do?

[ooc: Sounds good to me, there's a lot work with in this case! I'm almost finished my app, finally, the history took a bit, but this is just so much fun!]

The fish jumped out of Connor's arms, and it feels like instinct to just... pick it up. And suddenly he has a fish in his arms, a large, giant, monster like fish, and he isn't sure what to do with it. Does it need to be petted, does it need water? He knows that Connor said they don't need as much water as a regular fish usually does, but it's still weird.

Weird but also kind of nice. Markus knows there have been studies about animals helping people with physical and emotional problems, and it's kind of funny. This fish knows that Markus is going through a hard time, is having a feeling like sadness, and it doesn't matter if he's human or not. He is feeling what he's feeling.

"Thank you, Fiona." Markus said softly, looking down at the fish in his arms, then looking at Connor.

((OOC: We'll figure out what sounds like the most fun then once all the apps and such are accepted.))

Fiona may be a fish, but she is the most try hard of fishes. She doesn't fully understand the whole around her creation and Connor being different, but she understands he's going through a lot of confusion and he Cares. And if he won't act on that care, then she's going to because she also Cares.

And since Connor is being a dumb trainer, she's going to do her best to give Markus a fishy hug, fin patting his chest and nuzzling her head against his chest.

Connor is surprised at Fiona's actions a moment. Then he lets out a small huff, the smallest hint of a smile tugging at his lips because he knows how Fiona is. Even if their history is fake, her personality remained the same and he knew how seriously she took comforting people. And as smart as Pokemon are, he can't really explain the differences between androids and human to them.

He looks up to see Markus staring and the smile vanishes. "She's good at that. If the information I retained from the storm is correct, Feebas were often treated coldly for their haggard appearance. Fiona seemed to have decided she'd just put out more love and kindness to make up for it," he said, turning and starting to walk again, expecting Markus to follow. "Pokemon are quite intelligent. More prone to instincts, but able to understand complex ideas."

"I don't know why the report is different from what you remember. It's....it's probably one of the metaphysical concepts at play and that..." He waves a hand helplessly. It's hard to process. Maybe even more so for him since he hasn't broken the programming that limits him.

Edited 2018-10-20 22:49 (UTC)

[ooc: I like that plan, sounds good to me.]

A fish was giving him a hug. Even though ending up in a strange world that wasn't his own was the weirdest thing to happen today, having a fish give him a hug was a very, very close second. And seeing Connor give a smile like that, well, that was definitely fourth or fifth on the list.

He didn't expect to see that, and so wasn't surprised when it went away just as quickly. Markus looked back down at Fiona, because he really hadn't meant to stare, but it was so surprising, he just had to keep watching it till it disappeared.

"She's been a help so far." Markus started following him again, carrying Fiona in his arms. If Pokemon were as intelligent as Connor said they were, then hopefully she understood how grateful Markus was for her caring about him like this.

"You think that there's something different going, that's not with you having read the report wrong, or someone misfiled something in the system?" Not that Markus thought either of those were viable, but it made more sense then him not knowing that his father died. Something else was at play, maybe. It didn't make any sense to him, though.

Carl was dead. He'd had to learn to accept it, and he still had a hard time doing that, but he was learning.

"She's a good helper," Connor said, voice neutral. Fiona, however, preens a bit, looking pleased at the praise. She will just keep being a good fish, offering nuzzles and gentle taps with her fin. She's kind of limited in the physical comfort thing, but she tries. She's just glad it is helping, humans can be hard. Or...machine people?

She really doesn't get the difference. A machine Pokemon was still a Pokemon.

"Carl Manfred is famous and rich. Even if they were careless enough to not take down your model and serial number, that would point more to them not caring about a broken android. Not reporting Carl as someone whose died and say his son was simply hospitalized would be such a huge error, I'm surprised they still manage to keep a job," Connor said. "And your file was distinct. I only realized it was you after I saw your serial number during the speech. You were just a suspected prototype in the file and there wasn't even a reference photo."

Connor looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "You know chances of me actually remembering wrong are astronomically low, let alone something that was actually peculiar."

Of course, the same could be said of Markus. Even if he was damaged, that would be quite the corruption for how together he seems. "Do you remember the incident vividly? You were reported as destroyed."

Boy is a disaster, there's a reason he went 'kill me if you don't trust' to suicide mission

Gah, yes, that scene

He is just a garbage fire of emotions in a nice suit

That description has me laughing so hard you have no idea

:D Connor great at making people think he's sensible til they talk to him long enough its great

Markus just wants to be like... bro... buddy... my fair dude. You are not doing well.

He can join the Connor Pls Squad because be really is

He is definitely joining the squad

Instant friendship judging the denial boy

Connor, bringinging people together with his denail since 2030-something

Truly a uniter of people

Such a good broken alive guy. Also Markus is not sorry for screwing around with Connor a little bit.

He really shouldn't be, more people should screw with Connor. Its good for him.

It's kiiiiiiiinda fun.

Seems legit, really. Troll him to deviancy.

It's all fun and games until the knock knock jokes come out.

Good luck with the knock knock jokes, he still struggles with puns

He'll try to break him in slowly

I totally flipped what Markus did by not acting WHOOPS, but that's what TDM is for

That's okay! TDM can get all the mistakes, s'cool, s'cool.

TDMs are good like that.

They're great for this kind of thing, like voice testing, and I'm loving it.

Its so fun and Markus is amazing :D

I'm loving everything about his and Connor's interaction, it's so great xD

Me too. The Game robbed us of that fun emotional turmoil and I'm here for it